Getting Your Group Started

Posted: 13 Sep 10 | By: NG Team

Whether you’ve had a New Generation group for a while, heard about the concept for the first time during the summer, or been thinking about starting a group but never dared to take the step before…, right now you have the opportunity to make a fresh, new start! We can’t think of a better way to start the academic year than to set up, or relaunch, the New Generation group in your school. A good way to begin is for the group to organise a first meeting where you get as many Christians together as possible and work out what you want to do. Here are a few ideas you can include:

1. Advertise your first meeting everywhere! Posters, a presentation at assembly, the school’s TV screens, flyers, and visits to the new forms in school are all good ways to get the word out. Just use whatever possibilities you have in your school. Don’t forget that a large percentage of the people in your school or college are new, and it’s very likely that some are Christians who’d like to be involved in the New Generation group, but they need to know it exists first!

2. Start the meeting with cookies and getting to know each other. Let everyone introduce themselves, and if there are new people in the group it’s really important that they feel included from the beginning.

3. Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-29. Remind yourselves that God loves you, believes in you, and wants to use you in your school or college – no matter how it feels, and no matter how many or how few you are, or what you have or haven’t done in the past.

4. Pray a prayer for your New Generation group and for the school. Pray for a good academic year and that God will impact all students and that he’s going to give you ideas about what you can do in just your school.

5. Talk together about how you can best get started with the group, and what things you want the group to do. Talk about whether you want to meet and pray a couple of times in the beginning or start with a big outreach. Also talk about how you can make your group more visible and how you can share your faith in school in different ways.

6. Work out if there’s a particular day when you want to do an outreach? There’ll be lots of tips for special days on NG+ that we’re launching on the 1st October. Remember that it’s easier and more effective to do many small outreaches rather than one big one, and that everything gets easier if you plan ahead and divide the tasks between you.

7. Write down the names, mobile numbers, and email addresses of everyone in the group and decide a day, time and place for the next meeting. If it’s possible to meet the same time every week that’s the absolute best!

8. If your friends that aren’t believers come to the first meeting you can talk a bit about why Jesus came to earth and died for us. A good couple of good Bible verses to use are John 3:16 and Revelation 3:20. They both talk about Jesus’ love for us and his longing to have relationship with non-believers.

Remember, if you get stuck, just give us a call or send an email and we’ll be happy to help!

Does it cost anything to start a New Generation group?
No, it’s completely free. We will provide you with magazines, access to our NG+ login area, and you’ll also get visits from our Teams, all for free. We think that’s a pretty good deal.

How many schools do you have groups in here in the UK?
We have over 350 registered school groups all over the country. They’re all different shapes and sizes, but have a common goal to regularly pray and reach out in their schools.

With Christians from different churches involved, how do we keep unity in the group?We believe it’s on God’s heart to see his people united, and what better place to start than the young generation? We encourage our groups to shift their attention from discussing differences to focusing on being an example in school. Leaving deeper Bible studies on doctrine and denominational tradition to the church allows the New Generation group to focus on prayer and outreach.

Do I have to be a Christian to be involved in a New Generation group?
No, anyone is welcome to attend meetings and investigate the Christian faith, and everyone is also welcome to join in with social action initiatives and other projects run by the New Generation group.

As a Youth Leader how can I get involved?
If you’d like to get your church involved, check out the You & NG, Support NG and Events sections on our website to find out more about connecting with us and working together.

What’s New Generation’s attitude towards local church?
New Generation wants to work alongside local churches to inspire, encourage and help young Christians to pray and reach out to friends and classmates. When the school day is over, so is New Generation. Outside of school hours we encourage our groups and members to be engaged in their youth groups and in church. For more information, see our You & NG, Support NG and Events sections.

What’s New Generation’s attitude towards other organisations in schools?
New Generation is a complement to existing organisations engaged in schoolswork and we focus primarily on developing resources, material and training that are not available elsewhere. We regularly partner on projects with friends in other charities and ministries working in schools.

How is New Generation funded?
Most of our Team is made up of volunteers on a gap year, generally supported by private sponsors and their own savings. Their fees cover some costs, and we also receive support from New Generation’s international foundation. We also rely heavily on donations from churches, businesses and our Supporters.

Contact Details

So you want to talk to us? We’re very friendly, and we like emails and phone calls a lot.

Get Involved

All we need now is a few simple details and we’ll be in touch to follow thing up. Just choose which of the drop-down options suits you and/or tick the appropriate boxes and we’re sorted. Dead easy!

I’m guessing you already know that we believe that Christian young people can make a difference in their schools and colleges. I’m also going to assume that that’s something you believe too. If you’re a young person, Church leader or schools worker, then we want to invite you to our training day; Faith, Hope & School. For over 5 years in the UK and since 1996 in Europe, New Generation has been supporting young Christians to live out their faith in a visible way. We’ve encouraged them to commit to prayer and outreach, and done our best to support them in doing that.

Over the years we’ve heard so many amazing stories and ideas. We’ve also seen some not so great ideas and some that are plain ridiculous. All that being said we want to pass those experiences on, and also hear what you are doing in school right now. You’ll also get an opportunity to meet other young people that are in the exact same position as you are.

The day is full of practical, interactive sessions all based around developing you as a young Christian who can positively impact the people around you. It’s not about success or numbers, it’s about following Jesus and being salt and light to a generation that needs to see him. It’s no easy task, but it’s still the right path and we hope the day will be inspirational, practical and will prepare you for the realities you face daily at school.

What can I expect the sessions to include?
– Prayer & Outreach
– Social Action and Jesus
– Bring out the organiser in you!
– Speaking to the Head teacher
– Shed-loads of testimonies
– Practical ideas and much much more…
Don’t take my word for it, you’ll just have to come along and see.